Practicals

• Determining the specific heat capacity of a material


  1. Place a beaker on a balance and press the zero button

  2. Add oil to the beaker and record the mass

  3. Place thermometer and immersion heater in the oil

  4. Place beaker in insulating foam

  5. Connect joulemeter to immersion heater

  6. Leave set up for 30 minutes

  7. Read total joules of energy passed into immersion heater and final oil temperature
• Investigating the effectiveness of thermal insulators


  1. Place a small beaker inside a larger beaker

  2. Use a kettle to boil water

  3. Transfer 80 cm^3 of hot water into the small beaker

  4. Use a piece of cardboard as a lid for the large beaker with a hole for a thermometer

  5. Place the thermometer through the hole with the bulb in the hot water

  6. Record the starting temperature and start a stopwatch

  7. Record the temperature every 3 minutes for 15 minutes

  8. Repeat the experiment using an insulating material (e.g. bubble wrap) between the beakers

  9. Test a range of insulating materials (e.g. cotton wool, polystyrene balls)

  10. Use the same mass of insulating material in each case
• Independent variable

  The variable that is changed in the experiment
• Dependent variable

  The variable that is measured for each change in the independent variable
• Control variables

  Variables that are kept constant in the experiment
• Investigating factors affecting resistance of electrical circuits

  1. Use battery, ammeter, voltmeter, and wire

  2. Measure current and potential difference

  3. Calculate resistance using formula: R = V/I

  4. Vary length of wire

  5. Plot graph of resistance vs length
• Investigating the current-voltage characteristics of circuit components

  1. Use a voltmeter to read the potential difference across the component

  2. Use an ammeter to read the current through the component

  3. Record the potential difference and current values in a table

  4. Adjust the variable resistor to get a range of readings

  5. Reverse the direction of the battery and record the new readings
• Investigating a diode


  1. Use a sensitive ammeter (milliammeter) due to the low current

  2. Adjust the variable resistor to get a range of readings

  3. Record the potential difference and current values in the forward and reverse directions
• Determining density of regular objects

  1. Measure mass using a balance

  2. Measure dimensions using a ruler

  3. Calculate volume from dimensions

  4. Apply density equation
• Determining density of irregular objects

  1. Measure mass using a balance

  2. Use displacement method to measure volume

  3. Apply density equation